Encouragement Heroes

"It's remarkable just how powerful someone's belief in you can be," says Stacy Schumaker Maciuk, 2007 Lewis Hine award recipient. Stacy's story is remarkable in itself.

An Advocate for Foster Care Children, she is able to speak on this subject from a personal perspective--she herself became a foster care child at 2 and spent the next 17 years dealing with all the abuse and bureaucracy problems the foster care system encases. In spite of incredible odds against her, she graduated high school, after attending 10 different elementary, secondary schools and then gave the commencement speech at Belmont University graduation where she graduated with a degree in Social Work.

She has been an incredible force working to meet the needs of foster care students; while at Belmont University she led a task force to develop a system for recruiting, identifying, and meeting the needs of foster care students. She organized a suitcase collection drive to provide foster children with a place to pack their possessions other than a garbage bag. In both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly, Stacy Maciuk fought for college tuition waivers for foster care youth who have aged out of the foster care system they grew up in. Sher herself sponsored several foster students while they received college degrees.

“What I have learned is that you have to create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe. Success isn't genetic. It's based on opportunities you're given and people's belief in you."

Stacy knows first-hand the the difference a few encouraging words and many moments can do to impact a life forever!